Using government archives and contemporary publications, this pamphlet unearths the story of some of the men and women in Aotearoa New Zealand who opposed the state, militarism, and a world at war.

Anarchists, ‘Wobblies’ (members of the Industrial Workers of the World) and their supporters did not stand against militarism because they were pacifists, but as members of the working class who refused to fight working class people from other countries. For them the world was their country; their enemy was capitalism. Their fight for a free society led to an intense cultural struggle—a struggle that questioned the war, the nature of work and authority itself. This battle for minds had material results. Intense state surveillance and a raft of legislation not only determined who could read what, but led to jail time or deportation from the country. In a time of smothering oppression and social pressures, they held on to their beliefs with courage, ingenuity and resolve.

Issue 4 took 4 years to digest but I finally managed to crap it out. Here are bits and pieces written in Palestine, Aotearoa, Australia, England and in between. It’s about relapse, recovery, being back on meds, and the surreal dreams they cause.

The Compassionate Contrarians is the first comprehensive history of vegetarianism in Aotearoa New Zealand; in it writer Catherine Amey uncovers the quirks of the vegetarian experience in a land of meat and dairy and describes how animal-free diets evolved in New Zealand from Victorian vegetarians through to modern animal rights campaigners.

We are a small anarchist publisher from deep in the South Pacific. We are non-profit, we sell our books at cost, and we make the contents of our books freely available online.Find out more.